Teaching Online

Online Learning is a priority at GRCC. The college offers flexible learning opportunities to meet students' needs through online and hybrid courses. These courses help to minimize the barriers of time and place.

All courses offered online must follow the online course request process - which includes: Deans Council Sub-Committee approval for development; course review by the Online Course Review Committee; and ultimately Executive Director of DLIT approval for delivery (so the course can be added to the schedule by the Department and Associate Dean). In addition, a faculty member must be certified to teach online before selecting a class.

The links below provide access to the most up-to-date information available to the DLIT team regarding certified instructors, approved online courses and online courses currently in development at GRCC:

New to Online Teaching?

Interested in teaching online at GRCC? In order to select an online or hybrid class, by faculty contract, faculty must be certified. The six-week Online and Hybrid Certification Course (syllabus is located here) is offered each semester and registration is managed by the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Interested in converting a face-to-face course to an online or hybrid format? To request a new online course, please follow the online course request process. NOTICE: This request process is being reviewed due to the recent adoption of the faculty contract.
The Distance Learning and Instructional Technologies Department assists Deans, Associate Deans and Department Heads in the course request process and provides faculty professional development, technology training and resource support to faculty. DLIT provides this support to faculty as a service to assist the Deans, Associate Deans and Department Heads as they work to manage their schools, distance learning programs, departments, online/hybrid courses and overall curriculum.

We are here to help! Let us know how we can assist you with course design, engagement, active learning, Blackboard and more! Email us at dlit@grcc.edu.

Recommended Technologies and Tools for Online Teaching

GRCC's online courses are offered through Blackboard and supported by access to the college's instructional technologies. Visit our Teaching with Technology web page to learn about leveraging a wide array of technologies in your online course.

Recommended technologies for use in online course include Blackboard IM for online office hours and "online presence," TechSmith Relay and Camtasia for online media and creating visual lectures. Interactive Blackboard tools such as discussion boards, wikis, blogs and engaging media, such as NBCLearn, provide opportunities for active learning.

Online Syllabus Template – The college offers an online syllabus template for distance learning courses. This template provides common policies, procedures and other common language that is useful in creating an effective syllabus.

Quality, Student Success and Retention

Online Learning for Students – This set of web pages provide good insight for faculty teaching online. These resources are designed specifically for student orientation and information regarding online learning. As an online faculty member, providing an effective orientation for students will help to ensure online student success and retention.

Links

Student and Instructor Comments

"I believe that the instructor's presence in the discussion board is critical for an online course to be successful. If the instructor is not present, the students will likely participate minimally (enough to get by with a decent grade) and nothing more. The instructor's presence serves to stimulate more critical thinking and additional discussion and hence increased learning results. Students may feel isolated in an online environment, and having that instructor contact is essential."

– Online Instructor

"I have taken a several online classes and I always appreciated it when the professor is engaged and is teaching online as this really helps me being successful in online classes."

– Online Student

"I wish all online classes had a YouTube lecture to listen to. It was a great help and you get to know the professor somewhat without meeting him. Also the prompt response time on emails is very appreciative."

– Online Student

"I appreciate that, as the teacher, you participated with us in the Discussion Board. I like that you made multiple statements or comments on the board. I have been in classes in the past where the discussion board was only used by the students and the teachers had little or no interaction with the postings."

– Online Student

"I was excited to see that you have utilized the 'record' feature of the Powerpoint presentation! I like the feel of the 'brick-and-mortar' class with being able to hear you and the interaction with the class!"

8:00 AM to 5:00 PMWalk-ins are welcome and subject to current staff availability. Faculty appointments and consultations are available upon request. Please email: dlit@grcc.edu or call our office for any questions.